Generally for manufacturing a component using an additive manufacturing process such as Three Dimensional (3D) printing, a substrate is used as a base for manufacturing the component thereon. Typically, the 3D printed component once manufactured may require further processing such as polishing, grinding, heat treatment, metrology, and so on, in order to finish the manufactured component.
During such additive manufacturing process, the component may be 3D printed on the substrate at one work table. Further, the substrate along with the manufactured component thereon may be transferred to one or more different work tables for additional processing of the manufactured component. This transfer of substrate/component requires additional fixturing tools at the different work tables where the manufactured component may be processed.
Furthermore, the fixturing tools may have to be designed specifically to conform to the unique geometry of the manufactured component. As a result, different fixturing tools may be required for every different component to be manufactured. This in turn may add to the tooling cost, manufacturing cost, and so on related to every different component to be manufactured using additive manufacturing process.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,383,985 describes a method for operating an integrated additive machining cell system. The system includes supplying power and communications from an enclosed central manufacturing cell to a plurality of external modules. The system includes manufacturing a part via an additive manufacturing process. The system also includes performing secondary operations with one or more external modules on the part while the part is in the enclosed central manufacturing cell. The system further includes performing secondary operations on the part in one or more additional external modules.